My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The Phils’ bats continue to stay hot as they crush the Nats, 14-7, for their best start since the 1993 season.

The Phils overcome a lackluster start by Kyle Kendrick to crush the Nationals, 14-7, putting up their best start since their pennant winning season of 1993, when they started off the season with an 8-1 record.

The Nats took a 3-0 lead in the first as, with the bases loaded, thanks to a Cristian Guzman single and walks to Adam Dunn, which sent Guzman over to second base, and to Josh Willingham, which sent Guzman to third and moved Dunn up to second base, and with two men out, Adam Kennedy hits a bases clearing double, scoring Guzman, Dunn and Willingham. The Phils would strike back in their half of the first as, with the bases loaded, via singles to Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco, which moved Victorino up to second base, and a walk to Chase Utley, which sent Victorino to third base, and moved Polanco up to second base, with no one out, Ryan Howard hits a two-run single, knocking in both Victorino and Polanco, making it a 3-2 Nat’s lead, while sending Utley to third base. The Phils then tied the game up at three-all as Greg Dobbs hits an RBI double, scoring Utley, while sending Howard to third, with still nobody out. The Phils then took a 4-3 lead as Raul Ibanez hits a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Howard. The Nats regain the lead in the second as, with runners on second and third, and with one man out, Guzman hits a two-run single, knocking in Alberto Gonzalez, who had earlier doubled and had gone to third on a Nyjer Morgan single, and Morgan, who had earlier singled, and later stole second base, giving the Nats a 6-4 lead. The Phils would retake the lead in their half of the second as, with two men on, and with one man out, Utley hits a three-run home run, his third home run of the season, knocking in Nelson Figueroa, who had earlier singled, and had gone to third on Polanco’s double, and Polanco, who had just doubled, giving the Phils a 7-6 lead. The Nats would come back to tie it up at seven-all in the third as, with two men on base, and with one man out, Morgan would hit into an RBI ground out, 3-unassisted, as Ivan Rodriguez, who had earlier singled, stole second, and then went to third on Gonzalez’s singled, scored, while Gonzalez, who had earlier singled, and then went to second on Jesse English’s sacrifice bunt, went to third. It would remain 7-7 until the bottom of the fifth when the Phils took the lead for good as, with one man on, and with two outs, Victorino hits a two-run home run, his second home run of the year, knocking in Carlos Ruiz, who had earlier walked, to give the Phils a 9-7 lead. The Phils would add to their lead in the sixth as Utley hits a lead-off home run, his fourth home run of the season, and his second of the game, making it a 10-7 Phils’ lead. The Phils would then break it wide open in the seventh as, with the bases loaded via walks to Juan Castro, Ruiz, with Castro moving up to second on Ruiz’s walk, and to pinch hitter Jayson Werth, moving both Castro and Ruiz up a base, and with nobody out, Victorino hits a bases clearing triple, knocking in Castro, Ruiz and Werth, giving the Phils a 13-7 lead. One batter later, Polanco would bring Victorino in with a sacrifice fly to center, giving the Phils a 14-7 lead. That would be the final score as David Herndon would come in and pitch a 1-2-3 ninth.

Kyle Kendrick receives a no-decision as he pitches only an inning and two-thirds, giving up six runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out only one. Nelson Figueroa would get the win as he goes three and a third innings, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, while striking out two. His record is now 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA. Chad Durbin records his fourth hold of the year as he pitches two scoreless innings, as he gives up just two hits, while striking out one. Antonio Bastardo and David Herndon combines for two scoreless innings, giving up just two walks (Bastardo) and striking out one (Bastardo). Craig Stammen also receives a no-decision as he lasts only one and a third innings, giving up seven runs on seven hits and a walk. Jesse English pitches two and two-third scoreless innings, giving up just four hits while striking out two. Jason Bergmann took the lost as he pitches an inning, giving up two runs on a hit and a walk. His record is now 0-1 with a 15.43 ERA. Sean Burnett pitches a third of an inning, giving up a run on one hit, while striking out a batter. Brian Bruney pitches two-thirds of an inning, giving up three runs on three walks, while striking out a batter. Tyler Clippard pitches an inning, giving up a run on a hit. Miguel Batista pitches a scoreless inning.

The Phils had fourteen hits in the game, with Shane Victorino leading the way with four hits, two singles, a triple and a home run, being a double short of hitting the cycle, knocking in five runs, while scoring three. Placido Polanco, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Nelson Figueroa all followed with two hits each, with Polanco’s hits being a single and a double, knocking in a run while scoring two, with Utley’s hits being two home runs, knocking in four runs as he scored three, Howard’s two hits being singles, knocking in two runs as he scored once, while Figueroa’s hits were a single and a double, scoring a run. Greg Dobbs, Raul Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz got the other three Phils’ hit, with Dobbs’ hit being a double, plating one run, with Ibanez’s hit being a single, as he knocked in a run, while Ruiz’s hit was a double, as he scores two runs.

The Phils (7-1, 1st) concludes their three-games series with the Nats in a game already in progress. The Phils’ starter is J.A. Happ (1-0, 0.00) while the Nats counter with Scott Olsen (0-0, -.–). The game is presently a 1-1 tie, with the Phils batting in the bottom of the fifth.

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